A DeKalb County judge on Friday signed off on a request by prosecutors to dismiss a murder charge against a former policeman accused of killing an unarmed suspect.
Ex-officer Torrey Thompson had been charged with the murder of 21-year-old Lorenzo Matthews, who was shot eight times while confronting and then fleeing police who wanted to question him, authorities said.
The court order said the case is no longer being prosecuted because of a Georgia Supreme Court ruling last year that found Thompson's statements about the incident, given to internal affairs and investigators, cannot be used against him at trial.
Because the statements were suppressed, District Attorney Robert James said prosecutors would be unable to prove intent.
"As an element of murder, you have to prove intent," he said. "Without his statements, it would be next to impossible to prove whether he believed the victim had a weapon or didn't have a weapon."
Thompson, 34, expressed relief.
"I feel definitely a great weight has been lifted and justice has been served," he said. "It was a terrible and horrifying experience."
His lawyer, Bill Atkins, said Thompson was innocent. "He has always maintained he did his duty ... that his split-second decision to use deadly force against Mr. Matthews was justified under the circumstances."
Shortly after 3 a.m. on Sept. 12, 2006, DeKalb police, after responding to a 911 call at an apartment complex, were told Matthews lived there. They went to Matthews' apartment after determining he was wanted for questioning about a nearby shooting and assaulting a police officer.
Thompson and another officer, R.L. Knock, were told to wait in the back. When an officer knocked on the front door, the rear door swung open, and Matthews came out and pointed at Thompson with an object in his hand, according to court records.
Both Thompson and Knock, who was not charged, said the object looked like a weapon, although other witnesses said it was a cellphone. No weapon was found at the scene.
Knock ordered Matthews to drop the object, but Matthews ran down the stairs and jumped toward Knock, who fired four times, according to court records. Matthews then ran toward Thompson, who fired two rounds at Matthews, and as Matthews ran away toward a wooded area, Thompson fired intermittently until Matthews jumped over a fence, court records said.
Matthews was found on the other side of the fence with eight bullet wounds, two of which were fatal.
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